Help:Vandalism-only account
A vandalism-only account is a that is used only to commit vandalism on . Background Most vandalism at is done by anonymous users who do not log in. Such edits can be identified by the IP address in the . Repeated vandalism can eventually lead to being blocked from editing. Usually, would use features such as WHOIS and GeoIP to identify the location to which the IP address of the vandalizing editor is registered to. Generally, shared IP addresses or ranges are blocked for a longer period, especially those registered to schools or organizations (see the section entitled IP addresses below). As the IP address of a registered editor is not visible in edit histories, many vandals choose to create an account and then vandalize in the same way as an unregistered user. This can allow users to edit via an IP address or range that has been blocked to anonymous users. Accounts may also be created and used by vandals for certain types of disruptive edits that cannot be performed by unregistered users, such as those to highly-targeted pages, semi-protected or page-move vandalism. This is one of the main reasons for requiring that an account be in order to perform these types of edits. While is one means of reducing this possibility, such vandalism can still occur from new accounts, resulting in the general consensus that they should be blocked as soon as possible (see below). Identifying vandalism-only accounts If you notice any suspicious, or disruptive edits from a user (particularly those who have recently registered and whose or / has not been created (i.e., appears as a redlink)), it is likely to be used only for vandalism. Usernames of such accounts often also violate ’s username policy.Per :Policies and guidelines § Wikipedia policies + guidelines, unless otherwise stated, all policies and guidelines at Wikipedia apply equally here at , which includes their username policy at Wikipedia:Username policy. Should you notice such activity from any registered user, revert the edit(s) if not already done before, and then check the to verify whether the other edits from the user are also evidence of vandalism. If this is the case, the account can be reported at the :Requests for page protection noticeboard by clicking on the red button for immediately reporting vandalism. Dealing with vandalism-only accounts Vandalism-only accounts are usually blocked infinitely, sometimes without warning. The latter is typically the case if the username of the vandalizing account also violates the username policy. Occasionally, the first block implemented may be temporary; this is usually the case if the user previously has a history of constructive edits. If vandalism resumes after a temporary block expires, it is extremely rare for the second block to be temporary. IP addresses IP addresses cannot be considered vandalism-only accounts, as IP addresses are sometimes shared by many devices (by way of network address translation or a proxy server), and many are reassigned to another computer after a period of time. However, if an IP address has been used only or mostly for vandalism over a long period of time, it may be subject to a very long block, up to a year and occasionally even longer, but is almost never blocked infinitely. Notes See also * :Blocking policy * :Open proxies Category: vandalism __NOWYSIWYG__ __NOEDITSECTION__